QUICK NEWS, 8-4: VOTE ON NO-ENERGY BILL NOT TO BE; BREAKTHOUGH ON APPLIANCE EFFICIENCY; NEW SOLAR USES HEAT + LIGHT; BATTERIES STORING WIND WORKS

VOTE ON NO-ENERGY BILL NOT TO BE
Senate Democrats punt on spill bill
Coral Davenport, August 3, 2010 (Politico)

"Senate Democrats…punted their oil spill response bill to next month, but the extra time doesn’t guarantee the measure will pass — far from it…The delay virtually ensures that strategists from both parties will use the congressional recess to hone their plans, talking points and poison-pill amendments…with an eye toward the midterm elections.

"Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to pull the plug on offshore drilling is the latest blow to Democratic efforts to move energy legislation, beginning with the deaths of a sweeping climate change bill and then a scaled-down renewable energy bill…[I]t became evident over the past week that the Nevada Democrat lacked the votes within his own caucus to force the issue as the Republicans held firm against it."

click to enlarge

"Some Democrats and environmentalists said they are optimistic the extra time will allow them to revisit the broader renewable energy provisions…But lobbyists and staffers close to the energy bill process said that, if anything, the partisan dynamics that led Reid to pull the bill this week will only get worse the closer lawmakers come to the midterm elections…

"Central to the offshore drilling reform bill was a title to eliminate the $75 million liability cap on damages oil companies must pay in the case of spills and other disasters…The deeply partisan atmosphere in the Senate ensured that there would be no opportunity to amend the bill with a scaled-down, compromise liability title…"

click to enlarge

"Staffers close to the Republican leadership said that if the bill had been left open for amendments, Republicans would have hijacked the debate with amendments designed to prolong partisan arguments and revive GOP attacks on the broader Democratic energy initiatives, including cap-and-trade climate legislation. Many said Republicans’ desire to use the energy debate to put Democrats on the spot on those issues closer to elections will prevail next month as well…

"Both sides blamed the deadlock on partisan politics…Republicans said Reid failed to approach the spill bill on a bipartisan basis…Environmentalists slammed the chamber for failing to act…Oil industry representatives said they are indeed celebrating…The House passed its spill response bill last week, 209-193."


BREAKTHOUGH ON APPLIANCE EFFICIENCY
Major Home Appliance Efficiency Gains to Deliver Huge National Energy and Water Savings and Help to Jump Start the Smart Grid; Industry and Advocacy Groups Agree on New Efficiency Standards, Tax Credits and “Smart” Appliances
August 3, 2010 (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy)

"Home appliance manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates have agreed to improved efficiency standards and tax policies for refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, clothes dryers, dishwashers and room air conditioners. This agreement could save enough energy to meet the total energy needs of 40 percent of American homes for one year and the amount of water necessary to meet the current water needs of every customer in the City of Los Angeles for 25 years…[There will also be major] emissions reductions…

"Appliance manufactures and efficiency advocates will pursue adoption of these recommendations through administrative action by the Department of Energy and through legislative action by Congress…[T]he recommended standards and tax credits will save more than 9 quads of energy over 30 years…The recommended water efficiency standards and tax credits for clothes washers and dishwashers will save about 5 trillion gallons over 30 years…[The emissions] reductions are equivalent to taking 100 million of today’s typical cars off the road for a year…"

From ACEEE (click to enlarge)

"The recommended new standards will reduce new refrigerator and freezer energy use by up to 30 percent by January 2014. For top loading clothes washers, 26 percent energy savings and 16 percent water savings would kick in for 2015 relative to current standards, increasing to 37 percent energy and water savings in 2018. For front loading clothes washers, the savings will be 43 percent for energy and 52 percent for water in 2015 compared to today’s standards. Clothes dryers will increase in efficiency by 5 percent in 2015…Room air conditioners will see a 10 to 15 percent increase in efficiency effective June 2014 and dishwashers will see 14 percent energy savings and 23 percent water savings beginning in January 2013…"

How the $2,200 yearly energy bill for a typical single home is used. (from Energy Star - click to enlarge)

"For a typical household, products just meeting the new standards would cut their total electric bill by about 6 percent relative to products just meeting the current standards…[T]he net total national benefits for consumers for products purchased through 2030 will reach nearly $30 billion…[E]stimated upfront cost increases to make products more efficient will pay back in lower energy bills well within the life of the affected products, often within just a few years.

"Additional key features of the agreement include…Support for a three-year extension and update of an existing manufacturers' tax credit for the production of super-efficient clothes washers, dishwashers, refrigerators and freezers…A planned petition to the ENERGY STAR program to provide a 5 percent credit to the required energy levels for smart appliances…Recommendations that DOE improve test methods for dryers and refrigerators to better represent actual product energy use…"


NEW SOLAR USES HEAT + LIGHT
New Solar Energy Conversion Process Could Double Solar Efficiency of Solar Cells
August 2, 2010 (Science Daily)

"Stanford engineers have figured out how to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity in a way that could make solar power production more than twice as efficient as existing methods and potentially cheap enough to compete with oil.

"Unlike photovoltaic technology currently used in solar panels -- which becomes less efficient as the temperature rises -- the new process excels at higher temperatures…Called "photon enhanced thermionic emission," or PETE, the process promises to surpass the efficiency of existing photovoltaic and thermal conversion technologies…And the materials needed to build a device to make the process work are cheap and easily available, meaning the power that comes from it will be affordable…"

The cesium and gallium nitride PETE that proved the concept. (click to enlarge)

"Until now, no one had come up with a way to wed thermal and solar cell conversion technologies…[C]oating a piece of [gallium nitride] semiconducting material with a thin layer of the metal cesium, it made the material able to use both light and heat to generate electricity…[A semiconductor such as gallium arsenide, used in household electronics, could increase the efficiency]…

"While most silicon solar cells have been rendered inert by the time the temperature reaches 100 degrees Celsius, the PETE device doesn't hit peak efficiency until it is well over 200 degrees C…[It] performs best at temperatures well in excess of what a rooftop solar panel would reach…[so] will work best in solar concentrators…which can get as hot as 800 degrees C…and usually include a thermal conversion mechanism as part of their design, which offers another opportunity for PETE to help generate electricity, as well as minimizing costs by meshing with existing technology…"


BATTERIES STORING WIND WORKS
Xcel Energy Releases Promising Results from Wind-to-Battery Project
August 3, 2010 (Business Wire via MarketWatch)

"…[P]reliminary results from [Xcel Energy’s] wind-to-battery storage project in Minnesota…[show] the technology works.

"…In October 2008, Xcel Energy began testing a one-megawatt battery-storage technology to demonstrate its ability to store wind energy and move it to the electricity grid when needed. It is first use of the technology in the United States for direct wind energy storage…"

click thru for more info

"The preliminary test results indicate that the battery has the ability to…[1] Effectively shift wind energy from off-peak to on-peak availability…[2] Reduce the need to compensate for the variability and limited predictability of wind generation resources…[3] Support the transmission grid system by providing voltage support, which contributes to system reliability…[4] Support regional electricity market by responding to real-time imbalances between generation and load

"Results also indicate that this technology may be applicable for solar energy…Testing will continue to determine the technology's ability to facilitate integration of larger penetrations of wind energy on the grid. Phase II of the study will also assess the potential value of the various battery system functions and determine the potential cost effectiveness of the technology. A final report is expected in summer 2011."

click thru for more info

"The project is being conducted in Luverne, Minn., about 30 miles east of Sioux Falls, S.D. The battery installation is connected to a nearby 11-megawatt wind farm owned by Minwind Energy, LLC…[T]he 20 50-kilowatt battery modules are roughly the size of two semi trailers and weigh approximately 80 tons. They are able to store about 7.2 megawatt-hours of electricity, with a charge/discharge capacity of one megawatt. Fully charged, the battery could power 500 homes for more than 7 hours.

"Xcel Energy purchased the battery from NGK Insulators Ltd. The sodium-sulfur battery is commercially available and versions of this technology are in use elsewhere in the U.S. and other parts of the world, but this is the first U.S. application of the battery as a direct wind energy storage device…[Other] partners in the project…[include] S&C Electric, the University of Minnesota, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Great Plains Institute and Minwind Energy, LLC, and Gridpoint…The project received a $1 million grant from Xcel Energy's Renewable Development Fund…"